Barbara Friedberg, MBA, MS is editor-in-chief of BarbaraFriedberg Personal Finance.com where she writes to educate, inspire, and motivate for wealth in money and life. Learn about personal finance from a real life Portfolio Manager & MBA professor! Stop by the website and download a valuable free eBook, 20 Minute Guide to Investing.

THE BACK STORY

Last February, my husband accepted a new job across the country. After a four year search, he finally found the right match. In April, we visited our new land and in one day, after previewing about 10 properties, bid on a short sale condo. We were warned that purchasing a short sale property was fraught with problems, but we just could not pass up the price!

Although the new job officially started September 1, my hubby decided to leave his current job on June 10th. Due to some side hustle income, a nice savings account, and my income (at least for awhile), we prepared for the hiatus from the daily grind.

A benefit of arduous saving and planning is the opportunity for the long break from paid work!

Our plan was this:

Sell our current home.

Stop by mom and dad’s for a visit on the way out.

Take a leisurely drive along with some sight seeing to our new location.

Move into our new home about the middle of July.

Spend the next month and a half with me getting back to work, getting settled in our new home, and my hubby preparing for his new job.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

We sold our home fast, maybe even a bit too fast. Although we accepted an offer $10,000.00 less than we had hoped for, the price was in line with the current market value.

Key point: In real estate and investing, you sell at a price the market will bear, even if the price is lower than that of the last sale. Home prices in our area and nationwide had fallen about 5% since the same time last year. Thus, I would have been a fool if I’d waited for the market to come around to the price I wanted to receive.

The house sold fast because we were reasonable in the price we were willing to accept and it was staged beautifully (if I do say so myself).

Everything was moving along nicely. We were scheduled to settle on our old home the end of June. At closing, with the car packed to the gills and the kittens in their crate, we found out the buyers requested the refrigerator and I inadvertently sold it. Oh well, nothing that a check from my pocket wouldn’t fix.

As planned, we were off to visit the folks for a few days before leaving for our drive across country.

Great news, by the end of June (just 2 ½ months after the original offer) the bank, accepted our offer. In a short sale, the bank/mortgage holder must accepts the offer as well as the sellers.

Now things were moving along in earnest. We were informed we might even be in the property in 2 + weeks if all goes well.

After all, we had provided the lender with reams of financial data after we made the offer, in the hopes of speeding along the process of getting a loan.

LIFE AT THE PARENTS

What we expected was going to be a few days or at most a week at my folks dragged on and on. With no internet at their home, we travelled to FedEx Kinko’s to forward scores of pages of sensitive financial documents to the mortgage broker. They even wanted to know the details of deposits into our bank account of greater than $500.00. What did they think, we were getting money from the black market?

After every batch of data, the broker said he hoped that would be it! But…. It never was.

By the end of the third week in July, our loan was finally approved. Great, we’d probably be in our new condo soon.

After two long weeks, countless texts, calls, and emails, they got the approval in writing. But wait, they needed a copy of my hubby’s first pay stub before they would make the loan. Well how is that going to work
out? He starts September 1 and gets paid at the end of the month?

What does the bank think? We are picking up and moving across the land and then he’s not going to show up for work?

Finally, by the end of July, we signed the 75 pages of settlement documents with a “rent a notary” at my folk’s dining room table. Great, ready to go! Hubby makes all of the 8 days of hotel arrangements!

Not so fast. Apparently they need more information from the sellers. And they aren’t sure when the sellers will be able to sign their part of the settlement documents.

Then we can’t even have the keys until the deed is recorded!

LONG STORY LONGER

We decided to postpone our leave date a few days to save the hotel fees in our new town. Of course rebooking all of the hotel reservations was no picnic! While en route and enjoying touring the beautiful countryside, we obtained official occupancy.

We finally arrived August 10th in time to watch the painter finish his awesome job. By Friday we realized the carpet was beyond repair so we rushed out, chose carpet and laminate for the whole house and arranged to have it installed on Sunday the 14th.

Monday August 15th, the movers transferred our belongings, which had been in storage now for over a month, to our new home!!

By the end of August we are almost done unpacking yet are a long way from being anywhere near organized.

Last night, I hired a guy to remove all of the empty boxes for $100.00. After seeing the quantity of trash and boxes, we agreed $250.00 was fair.

Do you think I paid too much?

THE FINAL TAKEAWAY

Do not expect anything to be easy or go well.

Moving is expensive and stressful.

If you buy a short sale property, have patience, and a long time frame.

Smart money habits allow flexibility for unexpected expenses.

Appreciate my awesome contacts at Yakezie who helped out with guest posts and regular visits and kept my blog from dying.

Stop by my site to read more about the trials and tribulations of our across the land relocation.

Epilogue; Paying $250.00 to remove the moving boxes was below market price, even though it was way more than I wanted to pay!

For 2017 – 2021, I’m looking to invest in the heartland of America through real estate crowdfunding site, RealtyShares. RealtyShares is the largest, and most comprehensive platform where investors can take a look at various real estate deals around the country and invest more surgically. The coastal real estate markets are now cooling in 2017. It’s time to invest in Middle America where cap rates are 10%+.

STRONG RECOMMENDATION

Shop Around For A Mortgage:LendingTree Mortgage offers some of the lowest refinance rates today because they have a huge network of lenders to pull from. If you’re looking to buy a new home, get a HELOC, or refinance your existing mortgage, consider using LendingTree to get multiple offer comparisons in a matter of minutes. Interest rates are back down to ALL-TIME lows in 2017 due to tremendous volatility and uncertainty in the markets. But the Fed is signaling they will be raising rates by 2016. When banks compete, you win.

Recent Articles by Barbara Friedberg

Thanks for sharing your story. Glad everything worked out in the end. The journey you had is a great example of how while we might ultimately reach our goal, the process in between is often anything but totally 100% predictable. Sometimes we ought to just expect the unexpected!

It’s interesting how buying a home pursuant to a short sale process is quite a different experience than a traditional home purchase. If you have the patience and flexibility to endure the process, it seems like a really good deal might be had.

Moving is never fun, even locally! I have only bought three (3) homes and four (4) income properties. There are hundreds of things that can go wrong. This is the value of a good real estate broker to keep the whole thing together. In these situations, no matter how difficult, you will forget all the trials and tribulations and enjoy your new place in time..It will be a distant memory before long!

@Squirrelers-A short sale purchase is nothing like a traditional real estate transaction!! It was a fascinating experience.
@College- Agreed-moving stinks!
@Krantcents-I couldn’t agree more about the real estate broker. Our short sale broker was unbelievable and went waaaaay beyond the call of duty. AND, gave us a “home warranty” as a house gift.

Sounds like you had a doozy of a summer! So, where exactly are you guys now? Sounds like you got a good deal with the short sale, so even if you sold a little lower than expected, you made it up on the other end. Is that fair to say?

I traveled overseas this summer and visited a UNESCO heritage site. Other than that, I’ve been playing a lot more golf and resting the tennis elbow and knees by playing less tennis.

Congrats on finally settling in. It must feel great! I have often thought about buying a short sale home when we look to buy, but I am always worried about the hoops to jump through. What part of the country are you in?

Wow what a crazy summer! Glad to hear you’re moved in and have all that monstrous paper work behind you. Phew that must have been an exhausting experience. Moving is a huge pain, which is why I’m determined to get rid of all my clutter and minimize before the next time I relocate. -Sydney

Hi Barb. Glad to hear you have reached the end of this journey. It sounds like it has been a long haul. I am sure you are in a need of good break after all of that. I loved your 5 tips at the end. They should be on everyone’s fridge so they can read them every morning. They are like a mantra for the day. They would keep us all in check. Cheers Barb to a new beginning and a chance to catch your breath.

Congratulation! It took a long time, but it was worth it! :)
A lot of patient is needed for a short sale. Our short sale also just closed last week. It took almost 6 months. I don’t think I’ll ever do short sale again. Cheers!

When I was reading your ‘plan’ I was thinking “Barb forgot to include endless hours at the library using the internet”. Then I realized that wasn’t part of your plan!

I love the home shows, and I do see that short sales are not easy transactions. I cannot imagine pulling that off while traveling across the country and not having access to technology- you guys are miracle workers!

@Melissa, I’m on the right side of the USA. I would recommend the short sale route in spite of the stressors, the financial benefit is great.
@Sydney-Although we got rid of a ton, while we are asleep at night it multiplies :). We still have way too much.
@Miss T-thank you for the pump up. Fortunately, we are loving our new condo and slowly but surely, getting it set up!
@Retire-Congrats to you as well. Yes, they are going to bury me in this house!! How is your moving coming along. Lots of boxes left to unpack or is it a rental?
@Everyday-Luckily my mom came across country with us… or hubby and I probably would have killed each other :)!
@Sunil-Yes, I’m a big picture woman and in the end, it was a smart move (even though I’m not totally recovered).

Barb, I’m glad you were able to sell your house so quickly even if you had to price it a little lower than you would’ve liked. I went through this process about 3 years ago and it was a nightmare…..praying our house would sell, driving 1000 miles, and my wife and I moving in with my parents while house shopping. Not a fun experience, but moving your house off the market quickly is a lot better than 6 months or longer on the market and a growing knot in your stomach!

Wow. That is one crazy story! I thought the section about “staying at the ‘rents'” was humorous because I’m actually typing on my parents’ computer right now…in their basement! My wife and I bought a house a month ago and are fixing it up before we move in. Needless to say…we’re not done with the house yet, and needed a place to stay for a week or two. So, I feel your pain. I guess I have it easy though. My parents have internet! :)

@Car-Definitely agree, the quick sale was a tremendous blessing. I don’t the the short seller bank would have given us a loan if our current home had not sold!
@Everything-Thanks, day by day, our stuff is getting put away!
@Life-Enjoy the time with the ‘rents, it can acutally be fun!!! Plus, mom still likes to cook for us- woo hoo!
@Matt-I guess if you haven’t unpacked a box for 6 years, it’s not totally essential :)

Wow, glad to hear you’re in your new home, finally! It’s good to hear what to expect in a short sale . . . sounds like it was a good deal, but required some time and patience sacrifices to make up for the price! Also, it’s great that you got your house sold early on in the process, and that you had your parents to stay with in the interim. Imagine if you needed to stay in a hotel that whole time!

Wow–what an incredibly stressful time this must have been for you both. I am happy you stayed with your family; it seems like the older we get the less and less time we have extended periods to spend with family and friends (infact, in my lay-off of 2008 I made it a priority to spend 11 days with mine!).

@Financial-Usually, it’s not this bad… the short sale added to the time frame.
@Kellen-Yes, in general and inspite of the stress, it worked out quite well.
@Frugal-The family time was very rich-I really appreciated it. The new job is quite demanding and good!!

That sounds like a huge headache — thank God you had the finances and time to plan a “leisurely” move!! Can you imagine if you had been swamped with work and were originally planning on “squeezing in” a move into your hectic work schedule? Uggghhh!

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